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MOUNT VERNON, Maine — The bus ride for students who attend a local elementary school is a quiet and peaceful one thanks to the implementation of the “Books on the Bus” program.

The program got its start in the fall when Mount Vernon Elementary School staff members tried to find a way to keep three kindergarten boys in their seats during bus rides, Kennebec Journal reports.

Their solution was to recruit a high school student on the same bus to read to the boys regularly.

The initiative expanded when Blenny Butterfield, transportation supervisor for Maranacook Area Schools, was filling in for an absent driver. Butterfield instructed bus riders to take out books and start reading as a way to persuade students to sit in their seats.

Now, Mount Vernon Elementary School students spend the bus ride reading to themselves, reading to friends and listening to their friends read.

Moreover, students submit bookmarks as they read, which makes them eligible for weekly prize drawings, according to the Kennebec Journal.

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